This week, the CFTC released “This Month in Futures” for April 2011. The report includes data on energy, agriculture, soft commodities, financial, metals, and livestock.
Energy futures were most up both from March and from April of last year, a spike probably associated with unrest in North Africa. Agriculture was more of a mixed bag; though futures were up from this time last year, all but corn had fallen since last month. Futures for soft commodities, with a few exceptions, were down by both measures. Both financial and metals futures were largely on the rise, and livestock was down for the moth but up for the year.
